Skills for Life
Entry 2
Writing Examination Report - Test 056
September 2006
University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
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CB1 2EU United Kingdom
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Skills for Life Writing (Entry 2) Examination Report
This report is based on candidate performance on Skills for Life (Writing) tests between
September 2005 and May 2006. It also includes data collected from a questionnaire
completed by candidates, which asks them to supply details of their age, gender, experience
of English and first language(s).
The report is intended as an aid to teachers and colleges in preparing candidates for future
Cambridge ESOL Skills for Life (Writing) tests. It includes a number of sample candidate
answers accompanied by examiner comments.
Entry 2 (Test 056)
The three tasks in this test were loosely based around the theme of food. They were: an
email to a friend giving directions and confirming arrangements for a meal, a questionnaire
about food and health and a description, written for a teacher, about eating habits in a
particular country.
There were 33 marks available on the paper. The breakdown of marks available for each
assessment focus (Text, Sentence and Word) is shown below:
Text
Sentence
Word
Task 1
6
3
0
Task 2
0
6
3
Task 3
6
6
3
Overall, most candidates performed well on the paper with 88.5% of candidates scoring the
19 or more marks required to pass. The average mark was 24.4 (73.9%). Candidates
performed most strongly in the Word focus; the average mark was 4.8 out of 6.
Performance in Text and Sentence foci was also good, with candidates scoring an average
of 9.3 out of 12 in Text and 10.3 out of 15 in Sentence.
Task 1. – Email to Fatima
In Task 1, candidates scored almost equally well in both Text and Sentence (as the task was
an email, there was no assessment of Word features), scoring on average 7.2 marks out of a
possible maximum 9. Candidates seemed well prepared for this task. All three points were
usually addressed, with most students providing very full explanations of the directions.
Most candidates used an appropriate email style and produced answers showing awareness
of audience.
Task 2. – Food and Health Questionnaire
Candidates generally scored better in Word focus than Sentence focus. Candidates were
able to use a wide range of vocabulary for both food and health. The ‘description of a
healthy person’ was tackled either as a person in general, or as a person the candidate
knew – both provided the opportunity to produce compound sentences and better
candidates were able to produce answers above E2 level.
1
Task 3. – Description of eating habits
Of the three tasks, candidates dealt least well with Task 3, though the average mark was still
above the pass boundary. On average, candidates scored 10.6 marks out of a maximum
15. Most candidates covered all three of the content points. Better candidates were able to
produce a variety of compound sentences, to use a range of appropriate food-related
vocabulary and to provide an overview and a conclusion.
Candidate Information
59% of candidates taking the test were female and the largest proportions were aged
between 21 and 30 (40.2%) or 31 and 50 (35.4%). The largest proportion of candidates
(30.7%) reported that they had between 6 months’ and one year’s experience of learning
English; nearly 12% said they had been learning English for less than 6 months. Speakers
of at least 55 first languages took this version of the test, the most common being Polish
(15.8%), Farsi (5.5%), Somali (5.1%), Arabic (4.3%), and Portuguese (4.3%). 4.5% of
candidates reported that they spoke two first languages.
2
Recommendations for Candidate Preparation
All Cambridge ESOL Skills for Life tests are based closely on the Adult ESOL Core
Curriculum and cover all the Basic Skills Standards in each mode at each level. Therefore,
by following the Adult ESOL Core Curriculum, teachers will be preparing their students for
the tests. Candidates will benefit from being reminded of the following Dos and Don'ts:
Do
•
complete all the tasks in the paper.
•
make use of the guidelines which tell you how much to write and how much time to
spend on each task.
•
make sure that your handwriting is clear and easy to read.
•
read the task instructions carefully and check that you have done what the
instructions say.
•
think carefully about your relationship to the intended audience and your reason for
writing.
•
write in sentences where you are asked to do so.
•
make use of appropriate opening and closing formulae (e.g. Dear Fatima and See
you) in notes and emails.
•
spend time planning your answers.
•
spend time checking your answers for accurate spelling and grammar.
Don’t
•
worry if you run out of space: your Centre will provide extra paper which will be
marked in the normal way.
•
write a full, rough copy of your answer. Just write a few notes to plan your answer.
•
write in pencil.
•
spend too long on one answer
Sample Scripts
Sample scripts are provided for each task in the question paper. Please note that it is not
possible to reproduce the original candidate answers, and so any references in the
commentaries to quality of handwriting will not be reflected in the samples provided.
3
Entry 2 (Test 056) Sample Scripts and Commentaries
Entry 2 Script A
Task 1
(About 15 minutes)
You are cooking a meal for your friend Fatima on Saturday. Fatima sends you this email.
Hi!
Thank you for your invitation. I can come on Saturday.
- What can I bring?
- How do I get to your home?
- What time is the meal?
See you Saturday!
Fatima
Write an email to Fatima. Answer her questions.
Write about 40 words.
To:
Subject:
[email protected]
Re: Saturday
Hi Fatima!
I'm karin. I'm pleased for your email.
You can birng for me one wine.
You can get on by bus or train way.
bus number is 15 or 16 and train way goes to Leeds. We meal dinner at 9 o'clock.
My address write for you once again!
12 Cooper rd – Leeds
see you then
karin
(Total: 9 marks)
4
Entry 2 Script A
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
Candidate has attempted to cover all three points, but
poor organisation and cohesion make message difficult
to follow.
2
4
Sentence
focus
Candidate uses simple sentences without conjunctions;
little control over word order and problems with verb
tenses.
1
1
Word
focus
Word focus is not assessed in this task.
5
Entry 2 Script B
Task 1
(About15minutes)
You are cooking a meal for your friend Fatima on Saturday. Fatima sends you this email.
Hi!
Thank you for your invitation. I can come on Saturday.
- What can I bring?
- How do I get to your home?
- What time is the meal?
See you Saturday!
Fatima
Write an email to Fatima. Answer her questions.
Write about 40 words.
To:
Subject:
[email protected]
Re: Saturday
Hi Fatima how are you. Can come in Saturdy in lainch. I bring meal at home. I bareber nacs food I
wash a nacs day and this time is about owe a colooke I wayet for the lainch.
see you in saturday
ana
(Total: 9 marks)
6
Entry 2 Script B
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
Candidate shows awareness of task, but text is mainly
incoherent with little evidence of organisation or
awareness of audience.
1
1
Sentence
focus
Little evidence of control of basic structure. Meaning is
often difficult to decipher.
1
1
Word
focus
Word focus is not assessed in this task.
7
Entry 2 Script C
Task 2
(About 15 minutes)
At the supermarket you fill in a questionnaire about food and health.
Answer the questions.
Food and Health Questionnaire
Name: Li Jian
How often do you go shopping at the
supermarket?
About one or two times a week
What kind of fruit do you buy?
I usually buy apples, pears, oranges water melon
and so on
What kind of vegetables do you buy?
I always buy potato tomato pea lemon and so on
Describe the life of a healthy person.
(Write about 40 words. Write in sentences.)
The healthy person must do much sports during his life.
The healthy person must not smoke during his life. They must sleep early and wake up early. They eat
vegetables more than food and drink much water.
(Total: 9 marks)
8
Entry 2 Script C
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
Text focus is not assessed in this task.
Sentence
focus
Candidate has used simple sentences accurately with
some repetition and limited evidence of use of
conjunctions to link phrases.
2
4
Word
focus
Relevant key words are spelt correctly.
3
3
9
Entry 2 Script D
Task 2
(About 15 minutes)
At the supermarket you fill in a questionnaire about food and health.
Answer the questions.
Food and Health Questionnaire
Name: Karim Ali
How often do you go shopping at the
supermarket?
Three times a week
What kind of fruit do you buy?
I buy rice and fish and checken, eggs and
cheese
What kind of vegetables do you buy?
I buy tomato potatos and lots of things
Describe the life of a healthy person.
(Write about 40 words. Write in sentences.)
I would like eat rice and carry chips. I like slad because slad is good for healthy. I like potato carry
because potato is good for health and I like tomato with anything and like eat cheese I know cheese is not
good for health.
(Total: 9 marks)
10
Entry 2 Script D
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
Text focus is not assessed in this task.
Sentence
focus
Some evidence of use of compound sentences. Some
control over basic verb tenses. Full stops and capitals
are used consistently as boundary markers.
2
4
Word
focus
Key vocabulary is sometimes misspelled.
2
2
11
Entry 2 Script E
Task 3
(About 20 minutes)
Your English class is doing a project on food in different countries.
Write a description of the food from a country you know.
Write about:
•
meal times
•
everyday food
•
food for celebrations.
Write 70-90 words.
The meal time about owe a clooke and every day we eat riez and chepes vegetables chean
and I love this meal my favet is riez.
Celebratione food is we have met and peper soess with bered. and chean wthis eagg.
(Total: 15 marks)
12
Entry 2 Script E
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
Candidate has attempted to cover the task and audience
would receive some information. However, frequent
inaccuracy causes incoherence.
2
3
Sentence
focus
Poor control over sentence grammar results in confusion
over meaning.
1
1
Word
focus
Although writing is legible candidate is not always able
to spell familiar common words accurately.
1
1
13
Entry 2 Script F
Task 3
(About 20 minutes)
Your English class is doing a project on food in different countries.
Write a description of the food from a country you know.
Write about:
•
meal times
•
everyday food
•
food for celebrations.
Write 70-90 words.
China
China is a very old country. There is a big country. It's the 3th biggest country in the world. Chinese food
are very nice. Rice, noodle and so on. The chinese people usually have lunch at 12:00 and dinner at
6:30 on afternoon. There are two meals a day. Rice is everyday food in China. Spring Festival is most
important festival in China. On New Year' Eve, chinese people always have great dinner. There are so
much food as celebrate New Year coming. There are fish, lamb, beef, chiken and dumpling. It make my
mouth water. These all about China. Thank you for reading.
(Total: 15 marks)
14
Entry 2 Script F
Commentary
Band
Mark
Text
focus
All main points are covered. Text is organised and
coherent.
3
6
Sentence
focus
Although candidate has sufficient control of sentence
grammar for meaning to be communicated, there are
several lapses in basic structure such as noun-verb
agreement.
3
5
Word
focus
Candidate displays a good range of vocabulary with
appropriate spelling.
3
3
15